THE WEST SHOBE.
i t ..,! cilonn
knew nil lx.ut thorn, that 1 would ruin in . . ,
till morning It seemed to me as if a subdued chuckle
1 from Iiih t-il.iuw.-Ktjiin.ia him, i i
ISSUed
: : . , ,, . .. i i
uixl sleepy to notice it I claiiilMrHl into wo
com.oed myself for n na., whilo visions of sleep, more
,.r lLdistnrl.ed, 1 know, but Hlill sleep, flitted through
For two or throe miles tlm road was level mul Hinootli,
mid I Ml into a comfortable dozo, lyi " tllfi ,muk H,',lt'
with my duster for n pillow mul a handkerchief for n night
cap. (Suddenly there was n shock such as I had never be
fore exsrionccd. My head wan jammed up ngainst one
Hide of tlm stage mid my foot nought in vain for an exit
through the other, while my whole lxidy bounced up and
down liko a spring-lonrd. In my youthful days I once
fell from an upper balcony to the ground, and later was
oim night aroused from n nap on tho cars by the train
jumping the track and endeavoring to tent its specific
gravity in a river, but this exceeded all my previous ex
istences. Koon recovering from my astonishment I
thrust my head out tho door to learn tho nature and ex
tent of tho disaster. I saw tho Btago was moving steadily
on, and as thn driver spat unconcernedly over tho wheel, I
Im'l'iiii to realize that wo had simply run over a stone. That
it was n small stone was quickly mado evident, for we soon
ran over several others, noim of which wero very large,
and tho oflW.t so completely oclipsed tho first effort that
it sunk into utter insignificance. For an hour I did some
of tho liveliest ground and lofty tumbling it was ever my
fortune to engage in, traveling nil aliout tho interior of
the stage, and returning at every lull to tho back seat,
which was made the baso of operations. When nt last
tho stag" stopiHvl at n station to change horses, I crawled
meekly out and remarked U tho driver that I wasn't very
sleepy, and 1 guessed I would ride with him. As ho dox
tonmsly oxMctoralvl over tho off wheeler's back and an-
nwertvl "All right," I was certain I heard a chuckle, but
fell Uh miltduod to resent it, and trontod it with contemp
tuous silence. I felt " shuck up right bad," and then and
there resigned all claim upon tho back seat of nn empty
nui-u wrever.
rnrni my jorch iion the box I now had an oppor
tunity to view the landscape, or such of it ns was carved
irom ll.o darkness by tho "bull's-eye" Wneath our feet.
ii seemed u my unaccustomed eye ns though wo were
constantly running into a solid wall of black, ami yet the
horses followed the road as it twist! in and out among
the tree of tho dense forest, nkirtod tho edgo of n canyon
or wound up and down the stoop hillsides, tho driver
cracking his long lash and admonishing hi. team in tho
choice E ngl.sh ao eloquently handled by hiK craft, apimr
willy m unconcerned H if ,, n ,mwt,
the noonday sum
All MUunpU U, engage my new friend in conversation
"hii a most oximiuw m 1
Thi
aged to catch the tnrena oi m iubwu. v, mvo, Ci.
tended conversation was when, coming abruptly around
the bido of a hill, n magnificent spectacle burst upon our
; The whole face of a mountain, several miles dis
tant, was ablaze with fire. The flames leaped far up into
the air, twining their Bcorching arms about the long
branches of the pines, while the whole heavens were
ablaze with light.
I exclaimed, " Hello! there s a hre.
Grunt affirmative.
" Do we pass througli it ? "
Grunt negative.
"Does any one live there?"
Grunt negative.
" How long has it been burning? "
Grunt
My inexperience in the language prevented me from
comprehending the last remark in the broad sense in
which it was no doubt used, and so I ventured to ask:
" How long did you say?"
" Two weeks," he exclaimed with a snort
" Do they not try to put it out?"
Grunt negative.
Tho fire did not seem to have the gigantic proportions
of a blaze of two weeks' standing, and bo I remarked:
" I thought these forest fires were very dangerous and
burned immense tracts of timber, but this does not look
to be very extensive?"
" You don't know how much it has burned," he re
marked with a great effort
This observation was so literally true and so crushing
to my ignorance that I relapsed into my former obscur
ity, and watched the blazing forest until an intervening
hill rolled its opaque curtain before the scene.
All night long we rode, slapping our hands and
stamping our feet to keep the blood circulating, gradually
ascending into the mountains, and keeping the great dip
per always before us. By a brilliant flight of conversation
similar to the former, I ascertained that I would get
nothing to eat until seven o'clock in the morning, and was
compelled to satisfy my rebellious stomach by chewing
the quid of disappointment A remark that I should
think he would convey a trifle of nourishment to allay the
gnawing pangs within during his nocturnal journey, was
answered by a grunt indicative of a failure to comprehend.
The remark was simplified by saying, " Don't you pack s
little grub with you and take a snack during the night?"
and the responsive grunt not only conveyed the idea that
he understood, but that he did no such thing, and had
" Bufforin' contempt " for any one who did.
About four o'clock the stars began slowly to fade from
the heavens, and the advancing army of day drove in the
outposts of the legion of darkness, and in an hour had
completely routed the enemy and driven them from the
held It was a grand sight to see the conquering ad-
vaute or tne Uod of Day; and as we emerged from a deep
Till! fltlllw Iio.iii1.1a l. i .
' uwi, somewhat unfnmii;,,,. i.
Unguis I ometimes to Krasp the dcliota a i Tn nnd 8 the snow-crowned brow of Mount Shasta
of meaning, but, by putting direct quwtioii. to hi I. ? b the yellow of the sun, while belowrast
him.man-.clouds f fg rolled over th tills on which the nigM